The 89th Academy Awards ceremony presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honoring the best films of 2016, took place on February
The 89th Academy Awards ceremony presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honoring the best films of 2016, took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and just like last year, this year’s ceremony had quite a number of talking points that many won’t forget in a hurry.
- Mahershala Ali who won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar for his portrayal of a drug dealer in in ‘Moonlight’. Ali, a first time nominee, who also won a Golden Globe for his role in the movie, played a Miami drug dealer who mentors a young boy who is being teased and bullied in the heartbreaking coming of age tale.
- At 32, the man behind ‘La La Land’, Damien Chazelle became the youngest person to win in the Best Director category.
- Besides film maker, Spike Lee, quite a number of people felt Denzel Washington was robbed of an Oscar especially as his performance in ‘Fences’ seemed like a guaranteed Oscar win. Washington had last month, received a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award, beating out Affleck who was also nominated. Spike Lee took to his instagram page saying, “Lightning strikes for the second time. Robbed for the second time. Dats da truth. By Any Means Necessary.” He posted Lee an image of the respective characters Washington played in Fences and Malcolm X. Spike Lee was referring to the 1993 Oscars when Washington was nominated for his portrayal of Malcolm X in the movie of the same name but didn’t receive the award. Businessman Russell Simmons shared his sentiments on Twitter with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
“I haven’t seen anything like Denzel’s performance in 20 years. No one nominated can carry his fu**ing shoes #OscarsSoWhite,” Simmons wrote. TV host Shannon LaNier said the reason Affleck had not prepared a speech was because he also knew that Washington deserved the award. “Guess the #Oscars met their quota! Even Casey knew #DenzelWashington was supposed to win! That’s why he didn’t prepare a speech! #JustSaying,” he wrote. - A number of Oscar nominees threw their support behind ACLU, an organisation that first challenged President Donald Trump’s travel ban by wearing blue ribbons to the ceremony. From Irish-Ethiopian star, Ruth Negga, to Lin Manuel Miranda to Karlie Kloss.
- ‘The Salesman’ which won the foreign language film Oscar, was an opportunity for the director of the movie, Asghar Farhadi to attack Preident Donald Trump’s ‘inhuman’ travel ban. The filmmaker boycotted the ceremony because of Trump’s executive order that banned travel to the US from seven Muslim countries. According to a statement from Farhadi, he said, “I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.”
- Jimmy Kimmel was all up on President Donald Trump during the awards ceremony. The host of the award show first thanked the President for making the Oscars appear less racist as he opened the 89th Academy Awards. He said he knew the country was divided and he had been encouraged to say something that would unite people. Opening the show, he said the ceremony was being watched around the world by “countries that now hate us”. He then referenced the exclusion from a White House press briefing of certain news organisations. He asked anyone from CNN, New York Times or any publication with the word ‘times’ to leave the building.
- As the “La La Land” cast was taking the stage to celebrate, a stagehand in the wings said, “Oh … Oh my God, he got the wrong envelope.” She walked back and forth repeating it. It turns out that ‘Moonlight’, rather than ‘La La Land’ won the Oscar for Best picture. Oscars auditors PwC, have since apologised for the mix-up adding that the presenters were handed the wrong envelope.
“We sincerely apologise to ‘Moonlight,’ ‘La La Land,’ Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture,” the company said in a statement. “We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred,” it said, hailing the “grace” with which all concerned handled the situation. The mistake made for a chaotic end to the film industry’s biggest night, on which “La La Land” went home with six awards including best director, actress, score and song, to three for “Moonlight.
The cast of ‘Moonlight’
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won the Oscar for Best adapted screen play
Cassey Affleck won the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role for ‘Manchester by the sea’
Colleen Atwood won an Oscar for Best costume design for ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’
Emma Stone won an Oscar for Best Actress in a leading role for ‘La La Land’
Damien Chazelle won an Oscar for Best Director for ‘La La Land’
Justin Hurwitz won two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song from La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Manchester by the Sea’
Mahershala Ali wins an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting role in ‘Moonlight’
Kenneth Lonergan won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Manchester by the Sea’
Viola Davis won an Oscar for Best actress in a Supporting role for ‘Fences’
Host of the award show, Jimmy Kimmel
Full list of Oscar winners
Best supporting actor
WINNER: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Dev Patel(Lion)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
Best makeup and hair styling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
WINNER:Suicide Squad
Best costume design
Allied
WINNER:Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land
Best documentary
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
WINNER:OJ: Made in America
13th
Best sound editing
WINNER: Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
Best sound mixing
Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours
Best supporting actress
WINNER: Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Best foreign language film
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
WINNER: The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann
Best animated short
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
WINNER: Piper
Best animated feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
WINNER: Zootopia
Best production design
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
WINNER: La La land
Passengers
Best visual effects
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
WINNER: The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Best film editing
Arrival
WINNER: Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
Best documentary short
4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
WINNER: The White Helmets
Best live-action short
Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
WINNER: Sing
Timecode
Best cinematography
Arrival
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Silence
Best score
Jackie
WINNER: La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers
Best song
Audition (La La Land)
Can’t Stop the Feeling! (Trolls)
WINNER: City of Stars (La La Land)
The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)
How Far I’ll Go (Moana)
Best original screenplay
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
WINNER: Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
Best adapted screenplay
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
WINNER: Moonlight
Best director
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
WINNER: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Best actor
WINNER: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
Best actress
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Ruth Negga (Loving)
WINNER: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Best picture
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
WINNER: Moonlight
